With many growers moving to peat free growing media or trialling peat free options, the extremely hot weather this summer has demonstrated once again just how different most of these materials are to peat in their water holding and re-wetting characteristics. Peat free composts tend to drain quicker and have lower water holding capacity than peat. Under these potentially stress-inducing conditions, growers need all the right tools to help them manage their irrigation and get the best coverage from every drop of water they apply. As if this wasn’t a difficult enough situation, the spiralling costs of fertilisers and irrigation water provision reinforce the increasing need to manage water resources as efficiently as possible.
Use of surfactant wetting agents is widely recognised as a cost-efficient way of ensuring water and nutrients are spread evenly throughout growing media. Wetting agents allow the media to absorb water more readily and increase it is even distribution throughout the media. The word ‘surfactant’ is actually an abbreviation of ‘surface active agent’, meaning that they act to change the properties of growing media particles and the interface between the growing media and the irrigation water. Surfactants lower the surface tension of water and form a ‘bridge’ between the water and growing media, preventing dry spots and aiding quick absorption, which will reduce waste from excess run-off.
However, standard wetting agents are synthetic chemicals produced from the oil industry, so not sustainable or environmentally friendly products at all. Just as with the move away from peat for growing media, more sustainable and high-quality alternatives are now available.
Hortifeeds new wetting agent HortiHydrate Bio has been formulated by leading surfactant experts from a unique blend of sustainable ingredients. It boasts equivalent performance to standard synthetic surfactants but is also environmentally friendly, representing a vast improvement over products that are currently available. For further information, contact Hortifeeds via their website: www.hortifeeds.co.uk